Special Features presents: Farewell……

Yes, that is a very dramatic title isn’t it? Farewell…. Am I saying goodbye to you all? Is this finally the end of Raistlin0903? Nope…it is not. This is going to be a little bit of a different post than you are used to seeing on my blog. It’s meant to hopefully become a bit of a discussion piece about a topic that I think is very interesting. Unless you are not really following the world of television series, I think it’s been very hard to miss that on sunday something very dramatic is going to happen on The Walking Dead. After nine seasons the show’s main star Andrew Lincoln, who played one of the most memorable characters in television history, is going to exit the show. Now let me be clear: I love The Walking Dead. It’s still my number one alltime favorite tv-series. Granted the show isn’t as good as it used to be anymore, but despite that fact I am still looking forward to new episodes every time. A big part of that reason is Andrew Lincoln, or more specifically the character he portrays: Rick Grimes. Over the course of more than a 100 episodes we have seen the world of the zombie apocalypse through Rick’s eyes.

Rick is definitely in trouble..then again they might just want to say hi to him!

And now on sunday that is going to end. We don’t yet know exactly how Rick is going to be exiting the show, but many think that it’s not going to be pretty. A lot of fans also have been announcing that after Rick’s departure, they will stop watching the show. Forever. Which pretty much gave me the idea for this blogpost. I was thinking today about how the world of television has changed. In the old days, it was very rare for important characters to leave a show, much less die on it. Good always thriumphed over evil, and while there could still be tension in a series, we were never worried too much. Because really, our heroes can’t die right? The first show that really made me change that point of view was 24. The show starring Kiefer Sutherland as special agent Jack Bauer, just did things that I had never seen before up until that point. A good example, and obvious spoiler warning, was the end of the first season: Jack’s wife which he had tried to protect during the entire season ended up getting killed. It was a gut wrenching ending to a roller coaster of a show.

Jack is always such a nice guy….really….

After that, 24’s following seasons continued in this fashion. Important characters just kept getting killed in sometimes very unexpected ways, and in that way that feeling of safety you had from the older television shows was suddenly gone. These days, some of the big names in television especially Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead excel at unsettling viewers in horrific ways. It certainly makes for some compelling television, I won’t deny that. However some characters are just so important to a show, that it will never be the same without them. To again take 24 as an example, after nine seasons Kiefer Sutherland was done with the show. Fox tried to revive the series by doing a kind of reboot with a new character. Needless to say, that attempt failed. While certainly not bad, 24: Legacy just wasn’t as good without the iconic character of Jack Bauer in the lead.

24 without me?! Over my dead body, damn it!!

Which brings me to the point of this post (Wait…there actually was a point to this post? ). With more and more series killing off characters left and right, is this actually a trend that is a good development? In the case of The Walking Dead, it’s Andrew who has decided to leave the show in order to spent more time with his family. But the show will continue without him. At least that’s what the creators want anyway. Is it actually going to work though? If I look at myself, I will stick with the show regardless. Having invested nine years of my life to it, I would not all of a sudden drop it. Besides, I do want to see how it’s eventually going to end. But even though I’m going to give it a fair chance, it just won’t be the same without Rick. Some characters are just so good, and have such a big impact, that when they aren’t around anymore, it feels like something completely different. Sometimes on very rare occasions that works out, but more often than not, a show fizzles, and then slowly dies out.

Yes, I am leaving!! And there is nothing you can do to stop me!!

So that brings me to you guys. If an important character in a tv-series leaves a show, is that a reason for you to stop watching it? Or don’t you care about it either way? Are there any examples where you thought a television show didn’t change when a main character left? Or became better because of that character leaving? Yes, a lot of questions, and you don’t have to answer them all, or any at all. But, I would definitely be interested in hearing your opinions. Let me know in the comments! As for me, like most Walking Dead fans the upcoming sunday is probably going to be hard (living in Holland I will see it no sooner than on tuesday). So, that brings me back to the beginning of this post, and it’s title: Farewell…. Farewell Rick, thanks for all the great moments, you will be missed…

Let’s hope Rick just rides off into the…erm…well can’t really call this a sunset….

61 thoughts on “Special Features presents: Farewell……”

This was a really interesting read and question to pose. I personally think that most of the time a main character leaving is detrimental to the series, especially if it is the star. Of course, there will always be examples of shows that continued on well after a big character left.

But it seems like more times than not, an iconic character leaving just changes the dynamic too much. The show may not be bad, but it’s just too different. Citing your 24 example, I thought Legacy was decent and I would even watch another season if they did it, but it was no where near as good as the previous seasons and there was a huge Jack Bower shaped hole left behind. Something was missing. His character was just integral to the show. X-Files is another good example. I liked the new characters, but not having Mulder and Scully there felt like something was missing.

I’m like you in that I’m the type who isn’t likely to stop watching a show just because a major character leaves. But usually it’s not that much of a problem anyways because most shows only continue on for one more season, maybe two after that. It’s an interesting question to think about for sure 🙂

Thank you so much, and I love this very extensive comment!
It’s true though. Most of the times when a series loses it’s main star, it’s time to call it a day. With a few very rare exceptions, most of the times shows just lose their momentum, and end up turning into something completely different.
Like you I also liked 24 Legacy, as I said it wasn’t bad. But it just wasn’t the same without Jack. He was one of the best characters ever created for television, and he was part of the reason why I loved 24 so much. X-files is also a very good example of a show that just went on too long. They should have stopped when Mulder left the show. It was still okayish…but nowhere near as good as the original seasons.
And that’s what I think is going to happen to The Walking Dead as well now, unless I am really mistaking.
But that said, as you say, I’m not dropping the show when someone leaves, even if it is the main character. Thanks again for this great comment! 😊😊

I followed ‘The Walking Dead’ for the first two seasons on TV here. Then it was sold off to a satellite company, and I never got to watch it again. It has finally appeared on my streaming service as a box set, but to be honest, I was past caring. I can only watch so many zombies being killed, so many times.
It was the same with ’24’. I could never watch it as it was on satellite, so have never seen even one episode.
I know your love for TWD, so I hope you don’t miss Rick too much. If you like Andrew Lincoln, I can recommend this drama series he was in.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterlife_(TV_series)
It is available on some streaming services, in two series.
Best wishes, Pete.

Yeah…understandable. The Walking Dead certainly isn’t a show that everyone likes, but what I have always liked about it are the very human characters and the relationships betweent them. Not even the zombie element (although admittedly that is very cool as well 😊).
24 was actually my favorite show before the Walking Dead, and I do think that you would really enjoy that series Pete. Knowing your taste in movies, it’s one that I think is right down your alley.
Andrew Lincoln is a truly amazing actor. There have been some moments on the Walking Dead where I got goosebumps from some of his acting. I had not heard of this show before, so thanks again for a wonderful recommendation. I will try and find it, and check it out.
As for missing Rick…I definitely will. But well, I hope the show won’t turn into something really bad…we will just have to wait and see though 😊

Honestly for shows like this I really want to see a main character like Rick get some peace. That is always a small hope of mine. I know his end may not be pretty but I do want him to have peace after his long journey.
I think sometimes shows tend to last too long now days. Either they end too soon or go on too long. There are a few who have found that happy space where they have been given time to wrap up.
When I watched The Office I kept watching but the other characters were just as important to me as Michal was. That in the end is one weakness of killing off a main character. Are the other Characters likable?
For the Walking Dead many of the favorites are gone so there aren’t very many for people to stick around for. They may not have gotten attached to the new ones like they did for Characters like Glen or Rick.
I only stop watching I guess if I stop caring about what happens to the characters. So I guess the writers need to make us care just as much for the characters that Rick will leave behind.

Yeah…I want Rick to have peace as well. But…well I would have liked to have had that happen at the end of the show. With Rick leaving…it just won’t be that same Walking Dead that I used to love anymore. He is/was the glue that held everything together 😊
But yes…in the case of The Walking Dead I think the show has gone on too long. I’m a diehard fan, but even I admit that the series just isn’t as good anymore as it used to be.
You also raise a good point with the Office. And I can probably name quite a few other shows as well.
But well…there are still some characters left on The Walking Dead that I love. Carol is one of them, Michonne and Daryl are two others. But however Rick’s end is going to be, it will be sad to see him leave.
Thanks for this great comment 😊

If a main character leaves, for me, it’s almost assuredly over. Maybe a check in now and then, but only if there’s nothing else on.
Personally, I think if you have a hit show, the actors and whatever should try to stay until everyone agrees that the series has reached its limits. Unless something major, of course, but not just squabbles over money and greed.

Yeah…I always have trouble quitting shows in the first place as you know (lol 😂), but it’s definitely a valid point. Some characters are just too good, and leave such a big impression that it’s almost impossible to imagine the show without them.
Yes..that last remark is definitely an important one. In this case I can understand Andrew leaving. He has been away from his family for almost nine years now…that is a very long time. So…I can understand that he really wants to quit. It’s going to be hard seeing him leave though 😢😢

24 was really good. Before the Walking Dead it was my favorite show.
Kiefer wasn’t really replaces. The show ended after 9 seasons. And then a new show was started called 24 Legacy. It wasn’t bad…but it just wasn’t as good as the original.
Well..i can always rewatch 24 as I have the entire show on dvd 😊😊

Very interesting and thought provoking post! I’ve always thought anime should be more ruthless with killing off of key characters (obviously not CGDCT shows—that’d be absurd!) but shows like Fairy Tail where it’s gone 200+ episodes and I don’t think we’ve lost a single important character! Or even action heavy shows like DxD where characters are constantly on the verge of death but the show never commits to taking that step.

When a show kills off a main character it represents a lot of bravery in storytelling—of course that’s largely dependent on how well it’s executed (no pun intended). The impact of the characters death must be equivalent to the characters IN the show as it is to the audience watching it, otherwise the audience will feel like their time spent watching this character was pointless. At least that’s my opinion.

As for not watching a show once a main character is killed? Well that seems silly, if it’s an ensemble show. Imagine watching season 1 episode 9 of Game of Thrones and after ~that~ big death going, “nope, nothing left for me to watch in this show now!” Killing off a protagonist can lead to a much needed narrative shake up and result in better storytelling going forward!

Ahem… sorry, long comment is long. Guess that shows how good of a post this was! Hope the upcoming episode is a satisfying conclusion for that characters story for you!

Haha…no need to apologise at all. I like long comments, so thank you 😊
It’s definitely rare for some long running anime shows to kill off characters. There are a couple of them though. The best example is probably Attack on Titan, where we have seen the death of quite a few characters 😊 But true enough, there are few shows that do that.
Lol….great pun. But yes that is also very important. Killing off major characters is something that should be done in a good way, or at least a way that makes sense. Just killing them off in order to maybe draw in some better ratings, that just seems silly. Game of Thrones seems to be able to usually pull that off in a very good way.
Getting back to Game of Thrones, I think that is a different kind of show. There are so many characters in that series, and no really clear “main” character that of course it still hurts when characters die (and there have been quite a few big deaths). But there are shows that have a real main character that is essential to the series. Like for instance 24 where Jack was pretty much one of the biggest reasons for the show being so good. But..yeah despite that…it’s still weird to leave a show that you have been watching so many years just because a main character leaves. Especially a long running series.
I hope Rick’s arc does come to a good end. And wraps up it’s arc in a satisfying way. Thanks so much for the kind words, and this great comment!! 😊

I haven’t actually seen a single episode of The Walking Dead. You make it sound like it’s worth to watch. But 9 seasons..dunno about that. 😀

But about main character leaving. As I started watching series not very long ago, I haven’t seen so many (which means more to watch!) Thus, I don’t recall any live action series, where’d it happened (could be that I just don’t remember). But I understand the feeling. There is one anime series I love, but after my favourite character died, it went from 10 star to 6 stars. And though it was still amazing, it was nowhere as good as it was with him alive. But in this case the death was already written in the manga, so the series unfortunately didn’t have a choice. Still. And the anime was only two seasons long. I imagine if I watch 9 long episodes of smth, fell in love with a character, and then he/she’s gone. I bet the show never feel the same again. 🙂

Haha….well, the Walking Dead really is amazing: as I said it’s still my number 1 favorite shows. But I do have to be honest and say that it’s certainly not as good anymore as it used to be. Still, it’s definitely a series that is worth checking out 😊
Well, true enough, not every series has major deaths occuring (which is a good thing). But it does seem to be a new trend these days😊
I can definitely imagine that something happening like you just mentioned on one of your favorite animes would be a reason to definitely like it less. It’s something that I think is going to be happening with the Walking Dead as well. Rick has been hands down my favorite character, and with him leaving it just won’t be the same. Hopefully you will be able to find some new series/animes with new favorite characters, and none of them will die on it 😊😊 Thanks for you great comment 😊

I think some shows can survive a main character departing. Star Trek for example has an ensemble cast. If someone leaves the crew the rest can pick up the slack.

From what I hear most of the supporting cast in the Walking Dead are disposable and don’t have a long shelf life. If that’s the case it will be tough to replace Rick. Worse case scenario they can do a Dallas. He returns after a year and we all pretend it was a dream.

Yeah, so true: in some shows there are no real lead characters, and it isn’t as bad when one of them dies, or leaves. But in this case, the guy really had such an enormous impact on everything that it’s going to be very weird (and quite frankly very hard) to not have him around anymore.
Lol…yeah….that would be a fun turn around for things 😂😂😂

You know it’s my favourite TV series too, we’ve been together a long time now, you and me and Rick 😂.I’m sad he’s leaving, but I won’t stop watching it, at least not yet until we see how things pan out. I had also heard that Maggie is leaving too a couple of episodes later, but I could be wrong on that. There are still characters I’d want to see what happens to, Michonne and the priest guy, and I am wanting to know about the helicopter people that the garbage lady talks to on the walkie talkie. Also (sorry getting into it now 😂 Neagan is just too good a character to leave in a cell or kill off, and I wonder if he’ll take up the slack as the main man once Rick is gone.

It’s the same with me. I’ve been with this show for nine years now. Through all the ups and downs. I do have the feeling that the series won’t have a long life after Rick’s departure. I might be wrong, but seeing so many people say that they are going to stop watching it, I doubt it will have many seasons left.
But we’ll see. Yeah Maggie is going to leave as well by the end of this season (or so I have heard), but there are still many characters left that interest me. Daryl, Michonne, Carol…Negan…lol….yeah…I guess I’m getting into it as well 😂😂 We’ll see who will become the new showrunner….it’s going to be hard though that’s for sure 😢

I did know there would be a time jump between the episodes. But I had not yet heard it was going to be a jump of five years. Well…honestly that does sound interesting. Let’s see how they are going to pull that off 😊

I started watching TWD since I was like 13 years old… And now I’m an adult…
It will be a bit odd for me (for us) not to see Rick in the upcoming episodes… But I guess no one can stop it~ But I’ll still watch it though~ I wanna see how the whole series ends…

It’s really going to be strange not seeing Rick around anymore, that’s for sure. He was such an amazing influence and terrific character, and part of the reason that I have loved this series so much.
Like you I’m not going to stop watching either. I’m with this show until it ends. I do think though that the show probably won’t have many more season. I’m thinking that season 10 will in all likelyhood be the end of the road. But we will see 😊

Aaaw, I’m just reading this coz I’m really too busy. I’m also saddened by this, even though my love for the show lessened by the last couple seasons. It’s not that I lost interest in the show, it’s just not that good anymore. This is just me, i know. But i’ll still watch it. Like in the books I read, i just can’t stop halfway, i need to see the end. No Matter what. that’s why I rarely DNF books. It’s same with shows that’s why I don’t start a series if it has plenty of stuffs I won’t like. 🙂 🙂

Haha, no problem. I have the same thing right now, it’s been pretty hard keeping up with everything 😊
As for The Walking Dead, no it’s not just you. I am still a huge fan, and the show is still my favorite all time tv series. But it’s definitely not as good anymore as it used to be on the earlier seasons.
That said, I’m still going to stick with the series no matter what happens, until it finishes. Because really after spending so many seasons on it, I also want to know how it ends 😊

Well….. I’m not a Walking Dead fan…. I know. *gasp*.. Sorry. (ok. Let me rephrase that) I’m not a Walking Dead SHOW fan. I’ve seen about 2 episodes and I couldn’t handle the differences as I started with the graphic novels and I like them way better.
It always sucks when a main characters leaves the show (frankly, I’m surprised he lasted this long since they SO LOVE killing everyone off in this show!)
But, I understand the people who stop watching the show when they get rid of him… I did the same thing with criminal minds when Mandy Patinkin left, and CSI when William Petersen left! It’s hard to get used to a new person!!

😱😱😱 I would have been really shocked…but I already knew that lol 😂😂 Well, fair enough: the show isn’t for everyone. It’s still my number one favorites tvseries..and that is probably not going to change anytime soon. But who knows, something might come along that will be more interesting 🤔🤔
Haha…yeah it did take them a long time lol…but on the other hand, Andrew is leaving himself..so the show this time had little to do with it 😂😂).
Both are good examples by the way. Although admittedly Criminal Minds was still very good after Mandy Patinkin left. CSI…not so much 😢
Oh well…we’ll see how the Walking Dead fairs…probably not well lol 😂😂

The show that changed everything for me was Game of Thrones. They beheaded the main character in the first season and the following seasons pretty much carried on in that fashion. Killing and horribly maiming main character left, right and centre (like you mentioned) 😀

To answer one of your questions honestly. I kind of dropped The walking dead when they killed Glenn and haven’t been watching it consistently (I’ve been tuning in and out of it). Glenn was just a great character and it didn’t feel right without him. I’ve turned to reading the comic book though, which is really good 😀

Yeah, I have no idea exactly yet how RIck is going to leave, but…odds are that it won’t be very pretty. We’ll find out today I guess.😔
Yeah Game of Thrones has a really good/bad track record of killing characters. But for some reason that feels different. There are so many “main” characters in that series, it feels like no one is really in the lead. And the other thing is that there are so many COOL characters in it that when someone dies, there are still a lot of them around that can takes his/her place.
Glenn’s death was really hard on many people including myself. He was just an amazing character and the show hasn’t really been the same without him either. But that said, despite the fact that it’s not been the same, I still enjoy it (though as I said it just isn’t as good anymore as it used to be). I have a few volumes of the comic and I intend to read those when the show has finished it’s run 😊
Thanks for the kind words and another great comment 😊

So true 🙂 Game of Thrones really does feel like it has no single lead character 🙂 It has some unbelievably cool characters and so many storylines running into one, that is be extremely hard to determine who the lead is 😀

Same here, I really missed his presence in the show 🙂 It’ll be interesting to see how Rick will come to his end 🙂 I have a feeling he’ll be shot or murdered by another character, rather than eaten by Zombies. After escaping so many zombie attacks, death by zombies just wouldn’t feel right 😀
Hope you enjoy the comics 🙂 A lot of the details and characters are different from the show, so it still feels exciting and unpredictable even if you’ve watched the show 😀

It’s the thing that I both love and hate about Game of Thrones: the number of characters. There are definitely quite a lot of cool ones, but there also some that I always struggle to remember when they are mentioned again lol 😂😂
But it’s a great show, and certainmly one of my favorites.
Honestly : I don’t think Rick is going to die. I think he will disappear in some way and they will leave the door open for his return. Sometimes actors just need a break from it all, and return on later seasons. Don’t know if it will be the case, but it would not surprise me.
As for the comics, I definitely plan on reading them (another thing on my long list of things to do 😂😂).

Yeah I’m sticking with it to the end myself as well. Afer having invested so many years in it, I won’t be dropping it now. But then again, I don’t think the show will have many seasons left. There is going to be a 10th season, but after that …I don’t know if there will really be another. There are still a couple of great characters left luckily, but Rick really has been what the show was about. We’ll have to see if it will continue to be as interesting…fingers crossed 😊😊
Haha…and bingewatching is always nice. I’m currently doing that with Game of Thrones where I am really behind on as well 😊😊

I’m totally bummed. I will continue on with the show, depending on how the death is handled. I originally had a feeling that Daryl, Maggie, & Jesus were gonna do it, and if that was the case I was going to rage quit the show forever. Rick’s vision for the new world is hands to bring to life, but I do believe he IS doing the right thing, and certainly doesn’t deserve to die for it. I like how he and Daryl had their heart to heart last Sunday, and now it looks like walkers will end it.

Of course in his exit, Maggie will inadvertently release Negan in a botched attempt at killing him, and undo all the work Rick has done so far. I’ll stick with the show. I’m a fan of Negan, Maggie, Daryl, Jesus, Ezekyial, and a handful of others. As you say though, they aren’t Rick. I’m gutted that I’ll never again hear a ‘Rick speech.’

On that note, I had a vision of a shocking and perfect death for Rick. Him standing before the whole crowd. Alexandria, Hilltop, Sanctuary, and the Kingdom, with all his friends around him, delivering the most perfect of Rick’s speeches of all time. Mid sentence, one of his beloved friends literally stabs him through the back, and cuts the speech short. This shocking betrayal would have been the absolute perfect ending to an episode, the betrayal, the confusion on Ricks face as he fell, a couple of flashbacks where he went wrong, etc.

Well…honestly: we don’t yet know if Rick IS going to die. Things are looking pretty grim right now, but there are also rumors that he might be kidnapped or taken off somewhere. So…we will have to wait and see what happens. Only a few hours more to go (well, in the States that is lol 😂). But yeah, that would have been a particularly bad ending if that were to have happened. Daryl will most likley be the one to take up Rick’s role, but he is a man of few words of course. (at least I don’t think we will get any Daryl speeches so to speak).
But yeah…I’m sticking with the show as well. It will be interesting to see where in which directions this show is going to be heading now. But after nine years, I just can’t drop it this easily.
I like that death scene you are describing..it definitely would have made for a fitting end for Rick, especially considering his character. Well, as I said we will have to wait and see. However it’s going to turn out: it will be sad to not have Rick around anymore 😢

I don’t watch a lot the television and even less TV.
One show I used to watch every week was Criminal Minds, the show is still running but I stopped watching it when Hotch and Morgan left the show, I felt the dynamic between the characters wasn’t the same anymore, I totally understand why the character left the show, but I still feel like it missing something without them.

I honestly hardly ever watch tv myself (I only watch Netflix and dvd’s…but I guess that counts too lol 😂).
Criminal Minds is also a very good example. In the beginning it was Mandy Patinkin whom I also really liked that left the show. But still they managed to fill his shoes quite well. With both Morgan and Hotch having left the show certainly lost quite a lot of the charm it used to have. It’s a really shame, because it’s a terrific series.

Yeah true, I also understand that. It’s the same with the actor playing Rick right now. He wants to spent more time with his family. Definitely understand that as well. Still…the show just won’t be the same, that’s for sure😢

This is such an interesting discussion. Cos I get that feeling that the main character of a series can’t die. And yeah,even if you kill off certain important characters, but it feels like a show has been gutted if some of the most important characters go. I’ve not watched walking dead in a really long time, but it’s hard to imagine it without Rick- he was such an amazing character. I’ll be honest, I’d probably be in the leave camp, cos I get very attached to leads- although I guess it depends if there’s other characters to be invested in (which is why GOT can get away with killing so many central characters. Plus they have the whole turning a former baddie into a hero thing down as well). Anyway this was really interesting to think about! I hope that the show will continue to be great, for your sake!

Haha thank you 😊 It really was a fun discussion. There are definitely shows that for me just depend to much on certain characters, and this is one of them. Rick has just been a very important character for such a long time, but with him leaving I don’t know if the show can survive. I will stick with it till the end because I really do want to know how the show is going to end.
As for GOT that is so true. I was saying that yesterday to someone else, that series hasn’t really got a main character. There are so many cool ones. Sure we feel bad when some of them are leaving/end up dead, but there are still quite a lot left, so it’s not so bad.
We will see who will end up being alive in that show though 😊😊 Thanks for you great comment! 😊😊

Great discussion post, Michel. I’ve been following The Walking Dead since the start too, and I have to admit that the show lost a lot of its wow-factor after season 2-3, but it did have some amazing moments here and then through the later seasons. I however am not a huge fan of the new direction that the last season left us on, with the whole “civil war” type of deal that’s taking place. I really believe they should’ve wrapped up the show earlier and gave it a better parting gift than stretching it like they are doing now. I’ve also seen every episode and season of the original 24 series. I didn’t even bother with all the sequel/spin-offs with Jack Bauer. Insane, damn it! 😛 I do have to say that killing off the main character is always risky, but to do it properly would mean giving us another character just as amazing with just as much potential. A recent example is Dr. Who and the new doctors. I don’t even watch that show, but I know for a fact that the latest doctor wasn’t fully-supported at first until the first episode with that character that changed almost everyone’s mind! It really is just about good story-telling. If you don’t have that to go with your protagonist-change, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot! 😀

Definitely true: the Walking Dead although it’s still my favorite series, isn’t as good anymore as it used to be. It’s beginning to suffer from the same curse that 24 had: the limited setting. You can only do so much with this, and the seasons do feel like they are becoming rather repetitive. I have no idea what the series will be like after RIck has left it. For me Rick was one of the things that made this show so good. Luckily there are still quite a number of fun characters remaining so hopefully we can see someone pick up Rick’s role. It might even be Negan, though that might be stretching things.😂😂
Lol…to be fair 24 Legacy wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t as good as the original..and you just simply miss Jack.
True enough…there are a few examples where it did pay off. Criminal Minds is another when for instance, where Mandy Patinkin left the show after two season, it was also still good. Stargate Sg-1 is another. Mostly though, when you have a show with characters such as Jack Bauer and Rick Grimes….you have to do something really good to pull that off.
As for Doctor Who…yeah I heard that too. I have never really been a huge fan of that series, but I did hear that the fans were quite upset in the beginning, and are now apparently very satisfied 😊😊 Oh well…first we’ll see what will happen to Rick, and then after that everything will change…hopefully not for the worse 😊😊

Oh man, Negan being the main character would be hilarious. But see.. what’s weird too is that the show already has a spin-off prequel still ongoing… A show like The Walking Dead could’ve easily ended with the departure/end of the main character, in a beautiful way, and then launched a new show just to give people the opportunity to rebuild new connections to other characters… I don’t know but when the “main” character goes, it’s quite rare that the show lives any longer. I’ve also followed Criminal Minds and saw how it lost its energy when some of the key characters were taken off the show. I mean, I absolutely loved Mandy Patinkin too… And then when JJ left (she does come back though) and then the final loss that made me give up on the show cause the quality of the episodes were lackluster to me is after Prentiss leaves… I do hope The Walking Dead finds a new groove after Rick leaves though. It would be too unfortunate for this franchise to end on a bad note.

I totally agree with you on that, but honestly seeing all the comments on Youtube where people are saying that they are really quitting the show after Rick’s departure, I don’t know if that is going to happen.
As with everything on tv, it’s all about the ratings. And when they go down, the show will go down too. I think season 10 might just be the final season of this series. Hopefully it can give us a satisfying end, but I can’t see this show going another 10 more seasons. There simply is only so far where you can take this. But who knows maybe we will get pleasantly surprised.
As for Criminal Minds, so true. That is also a show that just lost too many good characters, and in the end it just went downhill. Real shame.
Let us hope that won’t be the case with our favorite shambling corpses…erm…The walking dead 😂

I think it really depends on the show really. Sometimes it’s the main character who holds the ‘centre of gravity’ of the show. Sometimes it not. Despite that I wouldn’t necessarily leave a show like that just because the main character happened to leave. I would still like to follow the story till the end, because that was why I started watching it in the first place right? But your post really made me think of Greys Anatomy. When character contracts end, they just killed off characters in unsettling ways. But great post Michel, great thought!

Thank you again!
You are so right: it definitely depends both on the show and the character. In the case of the walking dead, both the comic and the tv show, center around Rick. With him leaving it will become a totally different show. Doesn’t mean I will stop watching, but I highly doubt it will become as good as it was.
Still…I will continue to watch it anyway. As for Greys Anotomy…my mum follows that one, and she said pretty much the same thing. It’s annoying when things like that happen.
Glad you enjoyed the post 😊😊

"Consider, can the universe be justifiably called infinite? Doubtful. It may not have a discernible end, but it had a beginning and its component parts definitely have a limited cosmological shelf-life. Splitting hairs or not, if history tells us anything, it's that scientists often make very poor poets. We're all just a ship of fools chasing phantoms, heedless of what really underwrites natural law." - Okabe Rintaro